The flow of this article is a bit topsy-turvy, so bear with me. I often start with some explanation, then get into a decklist, then discuss some games of testing. Today, I’d like instead to start with my decklist from last week, then move into some test games, and then look at the results at the end.
First, the list:
Creatures (25)
- 3 Iwamori of the Open Fist
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Goblin Sharpshooter
- 2 Boreal Druid
- 4 Scryb Ranger
- 4 Spectral Force
- 4 Magus of the Moon
Lands (20)
Spells (15)
Sideboard
Second, the games!
Game 1 versus Mono-Blue Wizards (Cheon’s Build)
Opener:
Wooded Foothills
Pendelhaven
Stomping Ground
Llanowar Elves
Magus of the Moon
Goblin Sharpshooter
Umezawa’s Jitte
This is the first opening hand I’ve seen with the deck, and it is a spicy one.
I play Wooded Foothills into Forest and Llanowar Elves.
The opponent has Island, go.
I draw Chalice, then play Stomping Ground untapped and Magus, which resolves.
The opponent plays Mutavault and passes.
I draw another Magus. What do I play here? My choices are Chalice (for one or for two), Magus, Sharpshooter, or Jitte. Jitte seems like a pretty godawful choice here, as it is the best card in my hand here and can be countered by either Spell Snare or Mana Leak. Against a deck that is most certainly Faeries, I also value Sharpshooter highly. Magus and the Chalice are less strong, though a second Magus would be nice so that I can attack with my first without fear of Vendilion Clique.
I can fairly easily break the tie between Magus and Chalice; I have no real interest in playing Chalice for one, but if I play Chalice for two and it resolves, my Jitte is stuck in my hand. I’ll play the Magus. It is Mana Leaked. I bash for three and pass.
My opponent plays Riptide Laboratory and passes.
So he’s stuck on one Blue mana. That means no Vendilion Clique, which is good, but Mana Leak, Spell Snare, and Spellstutter Sprite are still online.
I draw Boreal Druid. Now my big choices are Sharpshooter, Jitte, or Chalice. Since my opponent made his land drop, I think I have to play Jitte here. Besides the fact that it puts me the furthest ahead on the board, if he has a Flash creature on my end step and then untaps to play and equip a Jitte of his own, I’m doomed if I have played anything else but Jitte here. (If he Spell Snares my Jitte, I will at least have disrupted him for a turn and can play Chalice for two next turn to guard against the Flash-Jitte sequence.)
I play Jitte and it resolves! I attach it to my Magus and battle. Before damage, the Jitte is Repealed.
My opponent draws, plays Island, and passes.
I draw Iwamori. Excellent. In case my opponent just got Vendilion Clique online with that Island he played (and was planning to cast the Clique before blockers), I want to cast Iwamori now so that I do not get him knocked out of my hand midcombat. I play him, and he resolves with his effect whiffing. My opponent has no Vensers or Vendilion Cliques, apparently.
Interestingly, the fact that my opponent does not play any free Legends gives me an important piece of information: he isn’t holding any Cliques. I can battle with my Magus and the only way he can kill it is with a pair of Spellstutter Sprites.
However, is this wise? Right now the Magus is holding down his Riptide Laboratory and Mutavault, while doing me no significant harm. If my opponent does have two Spellstutters, do I really want to walk into that? He is at 15, so with Iwamori down I don’t think my clock can be substantially improved by bashing with Magus here. I hold back.
It turns out to be irrelevant, as the Magus is Repealed anyway.
The opponent plays Mutavault and passes with two Island, two Mutavault, and Riptide Lab open.
I draw Windswept Heath, then play it and crack it for a Forest. Why would my opponent Repeal Magus? He knows I have a Jitte, but chose not to save the Repeal for that. For my money, he must have a Mana Leak or a Spellstutter Sprite. With that second Mutavault, he can use a Leak or a Sprite to counter my Magus when I re-cast it.
However, I can have at least have a 50-50 shot of foiling that plan if I play Chalice for two instead of Magus. If he has Mana Leak, he counters it and I can expect my Magus to be better-protected next turn because the Leak is gone. If he has Spellstutter Sprite, he can’t use it to counter a four-cost Chalice, so it’s going to stay stuck in his hand until he deals with the Chalice. I turn off my Jitte if the Chalice resolves, but who cares? I have Iwamori down, and he has no outs to it in any kind of useful horizon.
I cast Chalice for two, and my opponent responds with two Spellstutter Sprites just to get them in play. They do not counter it, but they are in play now. I beat with Iwamori, dropping the opponent to 10, and cast Boreal Druid.
The opponent plays Island and passes.
I draw Chrome Mox. I am easily going to play Magus of the Moon this turn over Goblin Sharpshooter, and playing him pre-combat lets me shut down those Mutavaults. I cast him. In response, my opponent Repeals my Chalice, activates both Mutavaults, and counters it with Spellstutter Sprite! Ouch.
At this point I have three options. I can either resolve Sharpshooter, or I can Imprint him on a Mox to go up to four mana, allowing me to play Chalice for two or Jitte plus equip. If I play Jitte and my opponent has a Spell Snare (he has one Blue open), or a Jitte of his own, or a way to remove it, it won’t do him any real damage. At best, I’ll get to kill two of his guys, and then next turn dual Mutavaults plus Spellstutter plus Riptide Lab means Iwamori is going down for very little profit. Playing Jitte is certainly out.
Alternately, I can resolve Chalice for two here. That means he can’t recur his Sprites, but it’s really the bouncing Mutavaults that concern me.
Finally, I can just cast Sharpshooter. If I untap with it and he ever taps that Riptide Lab, I will clear out all his Sprites at once. Plus, if creatures start dying in combat, the threat of death by pinging becomes credible. This way seems best. Play Big Sharps, beat with Iwamori (opponent is now at 5), pass.
The opponent plays and equips Jitte, then hits me with a Sprite. A single Jitte counter takes out the Sharpshooter, but my Elves are spared so that he can keep a counter on the Jitte.
I untap and draw Scryb Ranger. Wow, that is nuts here – especially with Pendelhaven giving it Jitte protection. I play my Jitte and the opponent does not have a counterspell, but he does give Iwamori -1/-1 in response. That means if I beat with Iwamori, he will trade for my opponent’s Mutavault and two Spellstutter Sprites. With him at only 5 life, is that trade worth it? Actually, it seems like it is. If I run it that way, my opponent will be tapped out, and down to only one Mutavault plus one Spellstutter left. Plus, if I beat with the Elves as well, he will be down to 3 life, and I can kill him with two swings of my Scryb Ranger.
One question remains. Do I play the Scryb Ranger on my turn, or wait for my opponent’s turn?
If I play it on my turn, I can generate an extra two mana with it, meaning I can either keep Pendelhaven open for my opponent’s turn, or hold back my Elves and use them to cast a post-combat Chalice for two. That would leave the board with my Chalice, my Pendelhaven, my Scryb Ranger, and my two Elves, to his Mutavault and Spellstutter Sprite. He would be locked out from Mana Leak, Spellstutter Sprite (even on the re-play via Riptide Lab), and Jitte. Best of all, I can be certain my Scryb resolves, even if he has Spell Snare or Mana Leak in hand right now. This seems really good.
I battle with Iwamori. As expected, he gangs up on it. Post-combat, I tap Elf and Forest to play Scryb Ranger, then return the Forest to untap the Elf. I replay the Forest and tap out to cast Chalice for two. My hand is down to just Chrome Mox, but the board is looking good.
The opponent plays Explosives for one and detonates them, clearing out my Elves. Then he plays Explosives for zero and passes with Island and Mutavault up.
I draw Spectral Force!
I forgot how nuts it is to have access to fatties in a topdeck war. Wow, this feels fantastic. I even have a Chalice for two in play to stop Mana Leak! I swing for one past my opponent’s Spellstutter Sprite, then float a Green from a Forest and bounce it to untap the Ranger. I then re-play the Forest and tap out for the Force. He does not have Cryptic or Venser, so it resolves.
On my end step, the opponent detonates the Explosives, taking out my Chalice. The board is now his Spellstutter Sprite, Riptide Lab, and Mutavault, to my Pendelhaven, Spectral Force, and Scryb Ranger. Both of my dudes are untapped.
The opponent draws and concedes to the 8/8 trample when he is at 5.
1-0
Not a bad start. Let’s see if we can do it again.
Game 2
Opener:
Pendelhaven
Mutavault
Mutavault
Mutavault
Llanowar Elves
Llanowar Elves
Umezawa’s Jitte
Trash! This hand does nothing against anything but sleeping opponents. The next six:
Wooded Foothills
Wooded Foothills
Chrome Mox
Llanowar Elves
Dead/Gone
Goblin Sharpshooter
At least this has potential blowouts against multiple decks. Keep it.
The opponent leads with Island, go.
I draw Mutavault and play Wooded Foothills into Forest into Llanowar Elves.
The opponent plays another Island and passes.
I draw a second Mutavault. Here, my options are to play the Sharpshooter or simply a Mutavault and nothing else. If I play the Sharpshooter now, I may lose it to Mana Leak, but if I do not, I may lose it to Vendilion Clique next turn. My opponent might also be Swans, in which case he might play a land and Firespout, but if he is Swans I at least have a game plan of holding open Gone mana as soon as he might be able to go off. If I don’t stick Sharpshooter now and it’s Faeries, my Mutavaults are going to be quickly outclassed.
I play Wooded Foothills into Stomping Ground. Sharpshooter resolves.
The opponent plays a third Island and passes.
I draw Iwamori!
Since Sharpshooter resolved, I am not overly concerned with Mana Leak here, and since I am tapping my Elves to cast him, I am likewise not attacking. Pre-combat, I play Mutavault and Iwamori, and he resolves. Boom!
The opponent Thirsts on end step and pitches Explosives. He untaps and plays Riptide Lab and Threads on my Elves. Whatever. I Sharpshoot the Elves and untap, saving Dead/Gone for something truly devastating like Sower.
This turn has only one reasonable sequence of play: Bash with Mutavault and Iwamori, then play another Vault and pass with Stomping Ground up to cast Dead if need be.
The opponent plays Vendilion Clique main phase and I let him cycle my Dead/Gone rather than blowing it on a 3/1 that is dead on the board to my Sharpshooter anyway. I cantrip into a Jitte. Having seen Stomping Ground and Chrome Mox in my hand, he plays a Hallowed Fountain tapped and passes. I Sharpshoot the Clique.
I draw Windswept Heath and play Stomping Ground. Although I could play and equip Jitte here, it seems much better simply to bash the opponent to four life. I don’t believe he has any outs from that position, so I do it.
He untaps and, as it happens, does not have any outs.
2-0
Game 3
From here on out, I’m just going to show my mulligan process and give quick summaries of how the games went.
Opener:
Forest
Mutavault
Chrome Mox
Chalice of the Void
Umezawa’s Jitte
Umezawa’s Jitte
Goblin Sharpshooter
What a mess. Ship it back for:
Mutavault
Chrome Mox
Scryb Ranger
Chalice of the Void
Dead/Gone
Umezawa’s Jitte
Awkward. Is this hand better than five? Bizarrely, it might be. If I lead with Chalice for one, I have Spell Snare-proofed my turn 2 Jitte. If I Imprint Dead/Gone instead of Scryb Ranger, that means I have Chalice for one, a resolved Jitte, Mutavault, and a Scryb Ranger in hand just waiting for a Green source. That is a reasonable position against a lot of decks, and I don’t honestly see myself doing any better at five. Keep.
The opponent keeps as well, and responds to my Chalice for one with a first turn of Island, Mox Imprinting Spell Snare (heh), go. Since he has a Spell Snare to get rid of, he clearly has every reason to play the Mox even if he doesn’t have Mana Leak, so I don’t read this as an indicator one way or the other. In the absence of any other play, I run out my Jitte. Sadly, he has the Leak.
I draw a Mox and then Iwamori, but still cannot productively play anything. Fortunately, the opponent does not have much action either. I draw Windswept Heath and try for Scryb Ranger on his end step, but it is also Leaked. I topdeck Spectral Force and immediately put it under a Mox so I can summon Iwamori while my opponent is tapped out. He has no legends to play for free.
I knock him down to six, then he drops the elbow, playing a topdecked Venser midcombat to bounce my Iwamori, then untapping and detonating Explosives for zero on my Moxen and Chalice, reducing me to just Forest and Pendelhaven in play, with Iwamori stuck in my hand. He loses a Mox himself in the process, but it hardly matters. I cannot recover against his Spellstutter Sprite and Jitte.
2-1
Game 4
Opener:
Wooded Foothills
Mutavault
Chalice of the Void
Dead/Gone
Umezawa’s Jitte
Goblin Sharpshooter
Iwamori of the Open Fist
This is a fairly slow opening, but it has a lot of power against a lot of decks. I think it is worth keeping.
I end up getting stuck on three lands. My opponent spits out his hand while I play one spell at a time. I eventually die to his Jitte after he Explodes mine.
I think I was wrong about this hand; I probably should have sent it back. I did not factor in that although it could play out most of its cards with one topdecked land, none of those cards could put any pressure on the opponent. Putting on pressure required two topdecked lands, which is a bit too much risk when mulling to six is still an option.
2-2
Game 5
Opener:
Stomping Ground
Stomping Ground
Stomping Ground
Boreal Druid
Dead/Gone
Umezawa’s Jitte
Scryb Ranger
This hand is the ultimate in garbage against Zoo and Tron, but is probably fine against anything else. I guess I run it.
I get an early Jitte advantage. He stops it eventually, but I have two backup copies, which run him out of counters. Then I play Scryb Ranger, and then Spectral Force, against his empty board.
3-2
Game 6
Opener:
Windswept Heath
Mutavault
Chrome Mox
Magus of the Moon
Magus of the Moon
Magus of the Moon
Iwamori of the Open Fist
Hrm. Turn 2 Magus is not amazing on the draw, but man can I ever stick one! Obviously if I keep this against, say, Elves! or AIR I am an absolute dead man, but against basically anything else I think this is fine. I’ll run it.
The Magus resolves, but both Iwamori and the Jitte I topdeck end up getting Mana Leaked. Dead/Gone crucially takes out a Venser that would have killed the Magus, which has become more important to the game since the opponent drew a Mutavault and two Riptide Labs.
We get into an amazingly close race. He gets a Jitte active on a Spellstutter Sprite, but I have two copies of Magus and a Llanowar Elves and he is in the single digits. He buys time with Threads on Llanowar, then kills of both of my Magi when he is at two life, with one Jitte counter left.
When he swings with the Sprite, I have the perfect answer: Scryb Ranger with Pendelhaven open. I block, the Jitte gets no counters, and I untap and swing for the win with my Ranger and two Mutavaults.
4-2
Game 7
Opener:
Forest
Windswept Heath
Wooded Foothills
Mutavault
Llanowar Elves
Umezawa’s Jitte
Umezawa’s Jitte
Gross. Ship into:
Windswept Heath
Forest
Mutavault
Dead/Gone
Umezawa’s Jitte
Iwamori of the Open Fist
This does nothing against anyone. Okay, I guess there’s Dead/Gone against AIR, but whatever. Go to five:
Stomping Ground
Forest
Mutavault
Goblin Sharpshooter
Iwamori of the Open Fist
Better than four. Keep.
…So, long story short, I actually win this game.
(I know, right? I’m as surprised as you are!)
The first Iwamori is met with Mana Leak, as is a topdecked Spectral Force. A second Force is hit by Cryptic Command, but a second topdecked Iwamori resolves. My opponent has an irrelevant Shackles and Jitte on the table and nothing else (in fairness, I did have Sharpshooter holding down the fort), and Iwamori just gets him from 20.
Ah, big, dumb animals. Love ‘em!
5-2
Game 8
Opener:
Wooded Foothills
Chrome Mox
Llanowar Elves
Llanowar Elves
Dead/Gone
Dead/Gone
Umezawa’s Jitte
This hand might as well be just Llanowar Elves plus Jitte against anything but Elves! No thanks.
Forest
Wooded Foothills
Llanowar Elves
Boreal Druid
Dead/Gone
Chalice of the Void
Hmm. I’m pretty sure this is bad enough to go to five over, but I’m not sure. It doesn’t do a whole lot; we’ve got turn 3 Chalice for two, or maybe an Iwamori or Jitte if I topdeck it, but that’s about it. I could easily draw more mana producers here and just do nothing. Still, I am interested to see how a hand like this might play out. I’ll run it.
I don’t draw much of anything and am soon Shackled. I have only a Llanowar Elf to my name and lands in hand. I figure the game is over, even though I have a Jitte (with no counters), but I play it out. Turns out I have Spectral Force two cards down, and he doesn’t have the counter. I beat him to one life with it, and then have Scryb Ranger on top to kill him next turn.
Wow. I am really kind of shocked at how quickly Mono-Blue folds to one resolved fatty. It’s pretty astonishing.
Also, it’s been too long since I got to game with Spectral Force. What an unbelievable beating that guy is!
6-2
Game 9
Opener:
Zero-lander
Next six:
Windswept Heath
Mutavault
Llanowar Elves
Umezawa’s Jitte
Iwamori of the Open Fist
Iwamori of the Open Fist
On the play? This is definitely a fine hand against any Blue deck, and has a decent shot at Elves! It would be real trouble against Red if I did not draw two lands in a hurry, but that’s probably a risk worth taking when my next mulligan would be to five. Keep.
Iwamori and friends beat my opponent into the single digits, but I get stuck on three land for a very long time. My hand is clogged, while he jets out a Shackles and a series of Thirsts and Counterspells. The two Thirsts end up letting him counter or Vendilion Clique away everything good in my hand, and eventually he runs me out of gas and gets Riptide Lab going.
6-3
Game 10
Stomping Ground
Wooded Foothills
Windswept Heath
Chrome Mox
Boreal Druid
Chalice of the Void
Spectral Force
This has the potential for turn 2 Chalice for two, then turn 3 Spectral Force. Given that Chalice for two either stops Mana Leak or draws it out, I am happy with this sequence against Blue decks. Against Red decks, I am pretty happy as well, as I have Chalice for one and an accelerated Spectral Force. Against Elves! I am in good shape unless they quickly find a Shaman for my Chalice. I’ll keep this.
I draw a Magus and imprint it on the Mox for turn 2 Chalice for two. I then play turn 3 Force as planned, but am hit by Repeal on the Chalice and Mana Leak. Rough. My opponent plays Vendilion Clique on his next turn and takes the Chalice he Repealed, but I have drawn another, and cantrip into Scryb Ranger. I am then able to play the Ranger and the Chalice for two in the same turn, thanks to the Ranger’s tricksy untaps.
He slowly recovers from that blow by recurring Explosives with Academy Ruins as I play out more small fry, but I end up just barely overwhelming him with mana Elves, Magus of the Moon, and the odd Sharpshooter ping.
7-3
Wow. That is an encouraging game 1 result, especially considering that Wizards did not take a single mulligan. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen across a ten-game set. Also, this is before boards; in game 2, I have access to Choke!
As for what to test next, I already know what my game plan is against Zoo: Blood Moon and fatties. I don’t know how good or bad game 1 will be, but Zoo is a deck I think I can beat with sideboarding. If nothing else, I can load up on eight Blood Moon effects and then start piling on the Baloths and Finks.
The matchup I really want to try next is Elves!, as I have the fewest durable blowouts against this deck, and am anxious to see how the games play out.
Game 1 versus Elves! (Chapin’s Build)
Opener:
One-lander with Llanowar Elves. Not worth the risk.
Send it back for a five-lander and Scryb Ranger.
Send that back for a three-lander and two Spectral Forces.
I don’t actually do anything this game. I just play land until he combos me.
0-1
Game 2
Opener:
Four lands, Scryb Ranger, Iwamori, Spectral Force. Man, this hand is unkeepable against every single deck ever!
Ship it for a no-lander.
Ship that into:
Windswept Heath
Llanowar Elves
Dead/Gone
Magus of the Moon
Spectral Force
The stone awfuls, but better than four.
I play a Jitte and then manage to stop the turn 3 kill in mid-combo using Dead/Gone. Weird Harvest nets me a Sharpshooter and a Scryb Ranger along the way. I play the Ranger for “free” thanks to tapping the Elves and replaying the Stomping Ground, then pass the turn and pray.
I don’t die on the following turn, and so am able to get Jitte active. However, Regal Force draws him a ton of cards, and it looks like I am going to die again after I finally draw Chrome Mox to go with my Stomping Ground, allowing me to play my Sharpshooter and a Chalice for one thanks to the miracle of Scryb Ranger.
However, my Jitte counters hold off enough of his mana-producing Elves that he cannot fully combo out after Pacting for Shaman to take out my Chalice. Instead he just fills his hand with Elves that are about to die to my Sharpshooter. I clear his board, and Jitte teams up with Sharpshooter to take out the Nettle Sentinels as well.
Regal Force knocks me to six, but on the following turn I have Spectral Force to block and that’s that.
Beating Elves! off a mull to five, on the draw? Tasty.
1-1
Game 3
Opener:
Stomping Ground
Chrome Mox
Boreal Druid
Dead/Gone
Scryb Ranger
Chalice of the Void
Umezawa’s Jitte
This is probably good against any non-Red, non-Affinity deck. Sure, keep it.
I lead with land, Boreal Druid, then land, Scryb Ranger, Chalice for one, then land, Jitte, equip it to Scryb Ranger, bash.
She is so good at generating mana! I play Iwamori next turn and it isn’t close.
2-1
Game 4
Opener:
Three lands, Mox, Jitte, two Sharpshooters. I probably run this if I know I am against Elves!, and am on the play, but neither of these applies here.
Ship it for:
Windswept Heath
Llanowar Elves
Boreal Druid
Scryb Ranger
Spectral Force
Spectral Force
I don’t think going to five would make sense here. This hand has the potential to devastate a lot of decks, though I’ll admit that Elves! is not one of them.
I draw a third Spectral Force, but the only disruption I find is a Jitte which he easily Shamans before going off.
2-2
Game 5
Opener:
Wooded Foothills
Chrome Mox
Chrome Mox
Llanowar Elves
Dead/Gone
Spectral Force
Spectral Force
This hand needs way too much help from the top of my deck to be keepable at seven. The next six:
Wooded Foothills
Stomping Ground
Forest
Chrome Mox
Magus of the Moon
Spectral Force
This is weak. Very weak. I think this is about on par with your average five-card hand, except with an extra land in it. I like my odds better of keeping this than mulling.
Anyway, I don’t draw any disruption and get destroyed.
2-3
Game 6
Opener:
Stomping Ground
Wooded Foothills
Windswept Heath
Chrome Mox
Boreal Druid
Goblin Sharpshooter
Spectral Force
This is sketchy. If I know I’m against Elves!, and I keep because of the turn 2 Sharpshooter, I am still quite dead if the opponent has the fairly common turn 3 combo. Against a blue deck, I am all in on one Spectral Force, and have to seriously pray they don’t have Mana Leak. This hand just does not hold water. The next six:
Windswept Heath
Pendelhaven
Mutavault
Umezawa’s Jitte
Magus of the Moon
Iwamori of the Open Fist
This hand is, at least, quite good against a slow hand from an opponent. I’d rather keep it than go to five.
He kills me on turn 3.
2-4
Game 7
Windswept Heath
Chrome Mox
Chalice of the Void
Chalice of the Void
Chalice of the Void
Goblin Sharpshooter
Iwamori of the Open Fist
If I know my opponent is Elves!, this really can’t miss. I play a turn 1 Chalice for one, then another on turn 2, then another on turn 3, then Sharpshooter, then Iwamori. However, I’ll assume I do not know my opponent and ship it.
Forest
Forest
Wooded Foothills
Wooded Foothills
Llanowar Elves
Umezawa’s Jitte
I’d rather put all my hopes and dreams on five random cards than on a Llanowar Elf and a Jitte:
Stomping Ground
Windswept Heath
Boreal Druid
Scryb Ranger
Magus of the Moon
Keep.
I topdeck a Jitte and swing with it on my third turn. His only answer is Weird Harvest, which will of course get me Sharpshooter. I play Iwamori and kill him with that and Jitte before he can mount a comeback.
3-4
Game 8
Opener:
Wooded Foothills
Llanowar Elves
Magus of the Moon
Goblin Sharpshooter
Iwamori of the Open Fist
Spectral Force
Spectral Force
This is pretty much a strictly-worse version of my Game 6 hand. Ship it into:
Stomping Ground
Mutavault
Scryb Ranger
Goblin Sharpshooter
Goblin Sharpshooter
Iwamori of the Open Fist
Keeping.
He mulls to five and does not kill me by turn 4. I play Scryb Ranger on turn 2 and Sharpshooter on turn 3, and he never sticks another creature after that.
4-4
Game 9
Opener:
Stomping Ground
Pendelhaven
Mutavault
Dead/Gone
Chalice of the Void
Spectral Force
Spectral Force
This is a hand that is ostensibly slow, but I like it. It has Chalice plus two Spectral Forces for Blue decks and Red decks, and Dead/Gone plus Chalice for Elves! I am fine with keeping this.
I play the Chalice and it shuts down literally my opponent’s entire hand. I beat with some Mutavaults while waiting to draw a fifth land for my Forces. Instead, I find a Sharpshooter. My opponent finds a Viridian Shaman for the Chalice, but I draw a Scryb Ranger and lock him out of the game.
5-4
Game 10
Opener:
One-lander.
Ship it for:
Pendelhaven
Mutavault
Mutavault
Dead/Gone
Magus of the Moon
Magus of the Moon
Ship that for:
Chrome Mox
Boreal Druid
Dead/Gone
Scryb Ranger
Iwamori of the Open Fist
Not too bad, for five.
I cast Dead on the first Nettle Sentinel I see, then I draw and play Sharpshooter. The opponent does not have the combo on the following turn, so I untap with Ranger and Shooter. He does not find Grapeshot in time.
6-4
Yeah, this matchup feels about even in game 1. I’m honestly not sure if I should devote board space to it or just use the fact that I do much better here when I know what I’m up against and can mulligan accordingly. The only post-board card that scares me at all is Orzhov Pontiff, but to Chord him out, the opponent needs to have three lands and three Elves before I untap with Sharpshooter; otherwise the price goes up to six lands, which is completely unreasonable. I can take care of Imperious Perfect and Elvish Champion and the like with either a Dead/Gone, a Scryb Ranger to go with my Shooter, or a Jitte to go with it, so I’m not too worried.
It’s a real shame that Aether Flash rotated out – that would be an unbelievable sideboard card against Elves!
Card Choices Revisited
There were a lot of good suggestions in the forums of my last article. Now that I’ve gotten a feel for the deck in the testing arena, I’m much better qualified to answer them.
Ravenous Baloth, Brooding Saurian, Kodama of the North Tree, or Iwamori?
I have to say, Iwamori seems to be the best of these guys. At least for now, I want the 5/5 body and the Trample of Iwamori a lot more than I want Control Magic defense or lifegain from the two 4/4s. I didn’t expect Wizards would get five Islands out in a reasonable timeframe for Shackles (and the testing bore that out – the closest it came was four, and I was out of contention in that game way before I had to worry about losing Iwamori), and Sower is not only getting less and less popular, it’s also certainly reversible against a deck with Sharpshooters and Dead/Gones.
As a matter of fact, North Tree was my backup choice for this slot. My main concern was the five mana and the GGG – that’s really difficult to assemble under a Blood Moon.
Sharpshooter or Vulshok Sorcerer?
Well, the slot is primarily occupied by a pinger in order to provide a true hoser for Elves!, and only secondarily for its applications against other decks. I expect Sorcerer would be way too easy for Elves! to play around. All they have to do is just save up for one big turn; since I can only deal one damage (give or take a Scryb Ranger), I am pretty much dead in the water to a Weird Harvest for multiple Heritage Druids.
Obviously Sharpshooter does not have this problem, and although he is admittedly weaker against other decks, I don’t think I can honestly have a shot at the Elves! matchup without him.
4 Jitte? Really?
Really. I originally had this count for two reasons: one, to help keep pace with Blue decks running 3 Jitte and Thirst for Knowledge (I felt this was justified because Jitte hasn’t stopped being the bomb to end all bombs in any kind of creature mirror since it was printed) and two, to give myself a twelfth card that can actually do a number on Elves! (as opposed to just slowing them down for a turn or two, like Dead/Gone).
I think I was only unhappy to see two copies of Jitte in one of these twenty games. Maybe if they are truly miserable in some other matchup that matters enough I would move one to the board, but so far that doesn’t seem necessary or wise.
Any love for hosers like Root Maze or Burning Tree Shaman?
Man, if Burning-Tree Shaman pinged for Heritage Druid activations (or better yet, Nettle Sentinel triggers), I would be all over running him. As it stands, though, R/G Haterator is not a deck that deals much damage. Even if my opponent takes seven or eight damage from BTS, that’s probably not going to be enough by itself to put him down. I’d rather focus my hosers on things that are crippling on their own.
I have always wanted to play Root Maze in competitive Magic, but it has just never come up. I’m not sure it will this time, either. If I am having trouble with Affinity, I’m sure I will turn to an extra artifact destruction spell like Shattering Spree before I turn to Root Maze, and I do not have such a fast clock that I can hope to simply slow down opponents like Tron and Zoo by a turn or two and leverage that into a successful race.
What I really need are potent, crippling hosers in as high a concentration as I can muster, and I don’t think either of these are deadly enough to make the cut.
What about Beasts or Troll Ascetic?
I don’t think I could fit a Beasts subtheme. As it stands, I have room for only two non-disruptive, non-accelerating creatures in the deck: Iwamori and Spectral Force. Suppose I turned them both into Beasts, and Mutavaults into Contested Cliffs. I think it would be tough to argue that the Cliffs-Baloth-Stomphowler (or what have you) package is going to serve me better than the Mutavault–Spectral Force-Iwamori suite. Even with Cliffs out, I’m pretty sure an 8/8 Spectral Force is better against Zoo than a Baloth or a Stomphowler – certainly in the case where they have instant-speed burn with which to finish off my guy after I activate Cliffs.
As for Troll Ascetic, I will politely decline to make room for him. See the Bonus Section at the end of the article for more details.
What about Grove of the Burnwillows or a Mountain?
I admit I had not thought of Grove, and it might have a place as a one-of or two-of in the deck. My concern with it is that it does not interact with Scryb Ranger. Even in this twenty-game set, it happened multiple times that my only Forest was a Stomping Ground from my opening hand, and I would have been much worse off if I had not been able to activate Scryb Ranger.
That said, if the Zoo or Burn matchups start looking especially problematic, Grove and/or a basic Mountain will be at the top of my list to help those matchups out. I haven’t seen a need for the Mountain yet, but it’s a completely reasonable suggestion.
What about Tin Street Hooligan, or Simian Spirit Guide?
The problem with Hooligan is that he’s just worse than Ancient Grudge in the matchups where he’s good. With Mox and Chalice and Jitte in my deck, I don’t want to maindeck him, and I don’t have any free slots in the board for another artifact destruction spell. (I’m also not sure that I wouldn’t turn first to something else, like Shattering Spree.)
Spirit Guide is just not the kind of mana I’m looking for. Chrome Mox is acceleration and long-term mana, so I can use it as part of my land count. The Elves are acceleration plus Jitte holding (the Guide can only do one or the other), and they produce double mana with Scryb Ranger out. Since I can’t count on him for long-term mana, I can’t cut lands to make room for him, and I don’t think I can justify cutting business spells for acceleration that doesn’t add as much to the rest of my deck as things like the Elves do.
Which is better, Choke or Boil?
Choke seems better so far, mainly because of the mana cost and the permanence. If I am on the play, there are a variety of ways I can cast it turn 2 before my opponent has played his second land for Mana Leak. There’s also the factor that Choke keeps hurting my opponent even after I cast it.
Then again, you can’t Repeal a Boil, and if the Blue deck does not suspect it, they may tap below two mana on your end step even if you pass with four mana up. I remember playing against Boil from the Blue perspective, though, and it was not difficult as long as you kept your eyes open.
Still, it could be possible that the Instant is superior, especially against something like Wizards with numerous bounce effects. Testing will tell, of course, but I am still leaning towards Choke for now.
Takeaways
This is a first for me…I actually don’t want to change anything based on this testing session. I have a lurking suspicion that the Guttural Response slot in the board will end up devoted to another matchup – perhaps Elves! or AIR or Burn – but beyond that, I am really happy with the way the maindeck ratios turned out, and that I have access to Blood Moon, Choke, and the full complement of Ancient Grudges post-board.
Scryb Ranger was – and I can’t believe I’m saying this – much better than Tarmogoyf would have been, in both matchups. Every time I drew her, she had some synergy going on that made her substantially better than just a 1/1 Flying Pro-Blue Flash creature, and even better than a Goyf would have been.
Even against Elves!, there were two games out of ten where the fact that I could play her for free on turn 2, Cloud of Faeries-style, meant I could equip a Jitte to her on turn 3 and attack in the air. Had I needed to attach the Jitte to my turn 1 Elves, they would have died in combat and I would not have been able to continue accumulating Jitte counters on the following turns, which proved critical to victory in both games. I was very impressed.
Sharpshooter was “meh” against Wizards, but world-crushing enough against Elves! that I want to keep him around. He is basically Night of Souls’ Betrayal, as although you can play him a turn earlier, he takes an extra turn to come online. (It’s not quite that simple, as if you tap out for him you cannot hold open mana to disrupt the opponent, which you could do in the case of NoSB…but you catch my drift.)
Twenty-three mana sources, including three Chrome Mox and four Mutavault, seemed like a great mix. Only a couple times was I burdened down by excess Moxen, and only once did I have colored mana problems. I was sometimes short on mana and sometimes flooded, which is also about right; neither happened in excess.
The only thing I don’t like about the deck so far is that it seems to mulligan substantially more often than certain Blue alternatives. That’s not a problem as long as it ends up winning a lot anyway – and, to be fair, it did pull out more than its fair share of five-card hands thanks to potent hosers – but there are some very consistent and very powerful decks in Extended, and it will be hard to turn them down for this unless the numbers are looking particularly spicy.
I’m interested to hear your collective thoughts on what other directions the list might explore. There were some very thoughtful suggestions in last week’s article, and I hope to keep that vibe going again this week. It would be exciting for a non-Blue, non-Zoo, non-Elves! deck to break the mold and do some damage against those top decks, and I hope this deck proves capable of it!
See you next week,
Richard Feldman
Team :S
[email protected]
Bonus Section: The Troll Ascetic Rant
Rant time! Gather round, for I want to level with everyone here about my true feelings for Troll Ascetic.
I have never in my life had a desire to put Troll Ascetic into any Magic deck. Period. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have secretly viewed its durable popularity in tournament Magic as some sort of prolonged lunacy, and have contemplated such rationalizations as mold spores, hypnosis, mass hysteria, plague, and aliens to explain how much people like it.
I’m not even kidding here. I just do not understand why competitive Magicians like the card.
Sure, I get it if you’re a casual player; it’s hard to kill, and it sucks when jerks kill your creatures, so you can laugh at them when they can’t kill your Troll Ascetic, and that’ll be good fun, plus you can still put your own equipment and Auras on it, which are also fun, and besides, it’s a Shaman for your Shaman deck, and also it’s almost as big as a Trained Armodon, etc.
But in competitive Magic? Troll Ascetic is a three-power “beater” for three, which has not been an acceptable power-to-casting-cost ratio for a “beater” in Extended since Call of the Herd and Morphling were good, let alone in the era of Doran and Wooly Thoctar and, hell, even Ashenmoor Gouger. Worse, this chump has the audacity to show up to the party with two toughness, forcing you to pay mana when you want him to block. On top of his shoddy baseline stats, he demands two mana to regenerate, which has never been a reasonable price for regeneration. And the final ability on this lump of inefficiency is that he makes it difficult for your opponent to do you the favor of removing him from the table for you. Man, where do I sign up?
These complaints are to say nothing of my feelings on him in R/G Haterator. Even if I did think Troll Ascetic was worth more deckbuilding consideration time than Centaur Veteran, what the hell am I supposed to do with a 3/2 regenerator in RGH.dec? What role does a card like that occupy – hoser? Come on. Disruption? Strike two. Finisher? This 3/2? Why would my opponent want to kill that? It takes approximately a million turns to kill him in comparison to any of the other Green finishers I could be playing. My opponent would probably thank me if I cast it.
The only way I could realistically see playing Troll Ascetic in this deck would be if I decided I wanted Tarmogoyfs but couldn’t find any on the day of the tournament.
Having gotten all that off my chest, I would like to politely acknowledge that I’m sure a lot of you genuinely love the guy. Feel free to tell me what I’m missing out on in the forums.